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Bailey won't be overused in return to closer's role

By
Ian BrowneMLB.com

CHICAGO -- As excited as the Red Sox are to have Andrew Bailey back in the bullpen -- the closer was activated for Monday's game with the White Sox -- manager John Farrell will be careful not to overuse him at the outset.

At least for the next few days, don't expect Bailey to pitch on back-to-back days, or three times in a four-day span.

CHICAGO -- As excited as the Red Sox are to have Andrew Bailey back in the bullpen -- the closer was activated for Monday's game with the White Sox -- manager John Farrell will be careful not to overuse him at the outset.

At least for the next few days, don't expect Bailey to pitch on back-to-back days, or three times in a four-day span.

Bailey will move right back into the closer's role and is expected to pitch the ninth if a save situation presents itself.

"Well, he makes our bullpen better," said Farrell. "Everyone will slot back in to a similar role that they've had when Andrew was still with us before the injury, so he'll go back into the closer's role. We will have to monitor just the workload and whether back-to-back is a good thing for him right now. That will all be a day-to-day situation."

After his one-game Minor League rehab stint, Bailey was excited to be back. He last pitched for the Red Sox on April 28 before being shut down with a right biceps strain.

"Obviously this is where you want to be -- healthy and with the team," said Bailey. "I'm just looking forward to being back out there."

Though Bailey understands why the Red Sox might be a little conservative at first, he feels ready to take on a standard workload.

"I feel 100 percent, ready to go," Bailey said. "If there were any issues, I wouldn't be here. That's behind me. I got the one outing in and feel ready to go."